Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats amid the weapons, creating a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in places that are considered hazardous and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, experts documented in their study on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in designated locations, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are inadequately mapped, partially because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the fact that records are hidden in historic archives. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states embark on extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being cleared.

We should substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with certain more secure, some harmless materials, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck sets a model for substituting material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.